Growing old in unavoidable, growing up is opttional
by CyXandrix
Summary: Everyone's time runs out sooner or later... This is a companion to "Seasons of Love" and "Tooth and Claw" set about a year after the former. While not exactly a BunnyFrost Story, its in there so don't worry. This story is actually about Jamie. Just a fun piece I did. This is NOT a JackxJamie/BunnymundxJamie story. Hope you like it! There is yaoi (malexmale) dont like it , dont read
1. Chapter 1

Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional

Disclaimer: I do now own Jack Frost, Bunnymind, Jamie, or any other characters from the rise of the guardians universe, I just love them a lot!

So here is a short companion piece to my larger FanFic "Seasons of Love" it happens not to long after the conclusion of that piece. Hope you like it!

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our dear friend Jamie." The Preacher said, looking out at a church full of black clad mourners "Jamie was a unique person, brimming with a happiness that was with him until the very end. We know those who knew him best will miss him the most, but he left a message for all of you here today" The preacher read from a piece of paper "To all those gathered here today, first off, thanks for coming, I haven't seen this big a turnout since the McRib came back for the 200th time." Those gathered in the church laughed, and from his perch high in the rafters of the church, so did Jack Frost. He leaned back against the large rabbit perched precariously behind him and smiled. The Preacher continued "Second, stop with the crying! I was a hundred and twelve, for god sakes, my cane needed a walker!" Again the church laughed, Jack and Aster joining with them. "Third off, and I want you to remember this one carefully, just cause I'm not walking around with you anymore, doesn't mean I'm gone. I'll always be right here" the preacher finished, touching the place on his chest where his heart was.

Jack looked up at Aster, his eyes meeting the emerald green and smiled "That's Jamie for you." He said.

"He was certainly special." Aster said

"Must be why he was chosen" Jack said, his mind drifting back to North's place, several nights ago.

Jack stood in North's study, Aster's arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. The normally Jolly guardian was sitting at his desk, rubbing his bright eyes as tears slowly dripped from the corners of them. Tooth was there too, sniffling into a handkerchief, as was Sandy, tears dripping from his eyes as an image of a rushing waterfall crashed above his head.

Jack and Aster had been planning to visit Jamie, as they had gotten in the habit of doing since Jacks "Incident" as they had come to call it. When they arrived at his house though, they found a scene that stopped them in their tracks. Jamie was not there, his family was however, and from listening to their conversations they learned that he had passed away several days before, and that his funeral was to be held in a few days.

"I…want…to…go." Jack had choked out between sobs, his face buried in the rabbit's soft fur.

Aster had merely nodded his consent, tears running into this thick fur of his face.

Leaving the sad scene, they had gone straight to North's, waiting for him to summon the other guardians before telling him what was wrong, despite his protests. They had known this would happen of course, all humans died, which was the precise reason that the guardians made a habit of not growing attached to them. Besides, most children stopped believing once they reached their late teen years, if not before, so it wasn't usually an issue. Jamie had been different though, despite growing old he had never lost his belief, and had maintained a friendship with each of the guardian's over the years. As a result, his death had hit each of them quite hard, though none harder than Jack.

They had been sitting there, lost in their own thoughts when a shaft of moonlight had fallen across them.

"What is it Manny" North said, his voice thick with his grief. The moonbeam shifted until it rested on the door. As a group the guardian's rose to their feet and walked through the door, following the beam to North's central control panel. There it focused on a panel in the floor, growing brighter until the panel split and a large blue crystal rose from the ground. They all looked up through the skylight "A new guardian? Now?" North said in astonishment. The moonbeam hit the crystal, and an image appeared before the gathered spirits. "Is that…" North said, his eyes wide.

"It couldn't be…could it?" Tooth asked in a whisper.

"It is." Both Jack and Aster said at the same time.

Several moments passed after the image faded before the silence was broken by North, saying "Someone will have to go get-"

"We'll do it!" Jack and Aster said together again, glancing at each other and grinning.

North thought for a moment, and then smiled "That seems fitting." "Now, go then, and wait until he comes."

Jack was pulled back to the present by the sound of music playing, and of many feet getting up all at once.

"That was nice." Aster said "Very…Jamie" he grinned down at the frost spirit laying against him "Now, what do you say we get down from here, I'm a bunny, not a pigeon."

Jack laughed at that "Alright, let's go. It shouldn't be long now," he said, hopping off the rabbit and down to the church floor in one graceful movement. Aster fallowed, the ground shaking slightly as he landed, absorbing the shock with his large feet.

The couple walked behind the large group as they followed Jamie's casket to the graveyard behind the church. They watched as the preacher gave a touching speech and the casket was lowered with much crying and many tears. They waited until the gathering departed, and they waited until the sun set, and the moon came out, full and bright against the dark sky. And they waited, until a bright moonbeam fell upon Jamie's grave, and the form appeared lying on the ground above it.

Jamie blinked his eye open, squinting as they adjusted to a bright light above him. As they focused he saw the light was the moon, shining unusually bright that night. 'How did I get here' he thought to himself 'More importantly, where is here?'

"All will become clear in time Jamie." Said a deep, smooth voice in his head. The voice was foreign to him, but somehow familiar, and its presence comforted him.

"Who are you?" He asked the voice.

"I'm the man in the moon Jamie." The voice responded.

"Oh…well it's nice to officially meet you then." He said, surprise preventing him from articulating a better response.

"It's nice to officially meet you Jamie, I have been watching you for many, many years now." The Man in the Moon said, sounding almost amused

"You have? Why?" Jamie asked, surprised to hear that the spirit that had chosen the guardians had an interest in him.

"You are special Jamie. I have watched you grow these past years, watched your wisdom grow, and watched you keep the hope and joy of a child. That is no small thing Jamie."

"Oh, well, um…thank you." Jamie said, taken aback by the Moon's compliment. "So…uh, why are you talking to me now?"

"Your time in this world as a mortal has passed Jamie." The Moon said

Oh, that's right, he had been dead. Jamie remembered that now. He wasn't sure how he knew it, he just did. He remembered lying down for bed, and then he was here, but somehow, he knew that he had been dead. "So…you're here to say goodbye?" Jamie ask, confused.

"No Jamie, I am here to welcome you. Your kindness and wisdom is without compare, and with the hope you possess, I believe you have the making of a guardian!"

"Me?!" Jamie said, shocked. Him a guardian? That was just crazy, he couldn't be a guardian, he was just an ordinary old man.

"No Jamie, you are far from ordinary! You ARE a guardian!" The Man in the Moon said, his voice strong with confidence.

"Alright, if you believe in me, then I guess at least I can give it a shot." Jamie said, unable to argue against the conviction in his voice.

"Good." The Man in the Moon said, sounding please "Now, time for you to get up and protect the children of the world, Father Time."

Jamie thought on that for a moment, and then smiled. He was Father Time 'I'm FATHER TIME!" He shouted in his head.

"YES, you are!" The Man in the Moon said with a chuckle "Now, time to get up, there are some friends here to see you."

Jamie stretched, his entire body stiff. The first thing he noticed about his surrounding was that he was lying on the ground, well-trimmed grass underneath him. The second thing was that he didn't hurt anymore! The pain in his joints and muscles were gone! He could bend and stretch and he didn't hurt! He laughed out loud at that!

"What's so funny Jamie?" Said the familiar voice of Jack frost.

Pushing himself up to a sitting position, and then jumping to his feet he saw the winter spirit, wrapped in the arms of the Easter Bunny, as he always seemed to be these days.

"Jack, Aster!" He said, running (HE COULD RUN AGAIN!) over to them and hugging them "What brings you were? Were you here for the funeral?"

"Manny told us to be expecting you, but we did come early to see it ya" Jack said, Hugging the old man that had been his friend for so long.

"How was it, did they read the note I left?" Jamie asked, stepping back.

"It was very nice, and yes, they did read your note. Leave it to you to be making people laugh at your own funeral!" Jack said with a laugh, Aster chuckling along with him.

Jamie shrugged, still smiling "Them crying wouldn't bring me back, so why be sad when they could be laughing?" He said "Apparently you have to be just crazy enough for the Man in the Moon to take a liking to ya to get brought back." Jamie added with a wink.

"What did he say to you?" Aster asked, speaking for the first time.

"How do you know he said something to me?" Jamie asked, surprised by the rabbits question.

"He spoke to all of us when we were…born…reborn…when we became immortal." Jack explained.

"Ah. He told me I was special, and that he had been watching me for a long time apparently." Jamie said.

"What name did he give you?" Aster asked

"He called me Father Time." Jamie said with more than a touch of pride in his voice.

"Father Time…" Jack repeated "That fits."

"If you say so." Jamie said, still a little skeptical that he was the right person for the job.

"Come on" Jack said, let's get you to the North Pole, the others will want to welcome you officially, and to see you again. They were quite upset when they heard you were gone."

"The others?" Jamie asked "North, Tooth, Sandy? They know then?"

"Ya," Jack said "Manny told all of us.

"Alright, let's go." Jamie said

Aster tapped his foot, opening a rabbit hole in-between the couple and Jamie. With matching grins they jumped down the hole, Aster's arms still wrapped around Jack's shoulders. Jamie smiled at the pair, his closest friends, and followed suit, stepping into the hole, taking the first step towards his new life, as a guardian.

Well there ya go! I got inspired with this idea and well, this is the result! Let me know what you think!


	2. Author's Note

**READ THIS FIRST!**

Hey all! So I realize that I have a lot of stories at this point, with no real indication as to the order they come in! With that in mind I decided to put up this with the order the stores are meant to be read in. (This is the order they were released and are intended to be read in, not the in which that actually occur in the world).

1. Seasons of Love (Complete)  
a. Shadow's of Love (Season's of Love written from Jack's perspective) (In-Progress)  
2. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional (Complete)  
3. Tooth and Claw (Complete)  
3. Down the Rabbit Hole (Complete)  
a. Wonderland (Companion piece to Down the Rabbit Hole) (Complete)  
4. To be a Guardian (Complete)  
5. Down Time (Complete)  
6. Spring (In Progress)  
7. Civil War (Working Title - To be Released)

I will be updating this as more things come out/change.

I want to thank everyone who reads, enjoys, favorites and comments on my writing, it means so much to know people actually like the ramblings I call stories


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